Since I'll probably be the guy that steps up and buys this game on day zero (day one?) later this week, I figured I'd start a thread now and post the information that I've gleaned from the Steam store page and the discussions page. That way when I get the game I can start posting without having to explain so much. Right now, although the store page says July 21st, from the unlock countdown is would appear that the game will be available on Thursday evening the 20th here in the USA. Here is the Steam page for Car Mechanic Simulator 2018. It is also going to be on consoles too, but PS4 and Xbox1 are planned in 3-4 months after PC release. Also here is the CMS2018 web page for the publisher Playway, there are a few videos there.

There is a post on the Steam discussions page from the developer Playway S.A. which gives some pricing and content info. Release price will be $19.99, which is quite reasonable I think. According to the post, this is because the developer decided to NOT include any real world brands in the initial release, instead they will be in DLC and you can choose which you want. Supposedly on release day, although not confirmed, there will be DLC for Mazda and Dodge available. The release package will include CMS18 + JunkYard + BarnFind modules. Also there will not be Multiplayer and Coop on release, but those features will be added sometime later.

Here's the main blurb:

Car Mechanic Simulator 2018 challenges players to repair, paint, tune and drive cars.
Find classic, unique cars in the new Barn Find module and Junkyard module. You can even add your self-made car in the Car Editor.
Build and expand your repair service empire in this incredibly detailed and highly realistic simulation game, where attention to car detail is astonishing.
All this with new, photorealistic graphics. Featuring more cars (40+), more tools (10+), more options and more parts (1000+) than ever before. It’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work!

Car Mechanic Simulator 2018 also includes car auctions where old cars are available for resale or purchased for your collection. With the inclusion of photo-mode, you can take stunning before and after photos, and the game’s infinite number of randomly generated missions will keep you more than busy (and dirty).

Each mission offers its own unique challenge of varying difficulty and time constraints to meet. If additional and extra tools are needed, they available for purchase. You can eventually upgrade your garage to include specific equipment such as lacquer sprayer or a parts warehouse.

I'm excited about this version of CMS because of the rather large amount of new content from the previous version. To wit:

Features of Car Mechanic Simulator 2018:

photorealistic graphics
40+ cars to get your hands dirty with
10+ tools to help you check out cars
1000+ parts waiting for you
start from a small workshop and upgrade it to a full sized 3-lifter gem
mix of randomly generated jobs to fulfill
endless gameplay
multilevel car parking in which you can store you cars
Advanced Upgrades System (level up and spend your points to upgrades)
Path Test to test car suspension
Test Track to test car condition (or just fool around)
Race Track to test car performance
Car Auctions where you can compete with other bidders and try to outbid them
Car Paint Shop with different paint types and car liveries (or you can just paint one part to save money)
Barn Finds, where you search for abandoned cars in barns - make sure to look there for parts
Junkyard (scavenge for parts and rusty cars)
Car Editor for modders (add your cars to the game!)

New Features since CMS 2015:

seats, steering wheels and benches are exchangeable
car windows are now parts too
new repair system (smarter way to repair parts)
parts warehouse (you can store your parts in a warehouse now)
sheds (Barn Find module)
separated tires and rims (you can place any tire and rim you want)
new working shock absorber tool
new working battery charger
new working wheel balancer and changer
race track (next to test track, there is a race track with a timer)
new physics system (much more complex)
car liveries (you can apply liveries to your car)
redone paint system (you can paint each part separately, choose the paint type: matt, metallic, pearl)
modding support from day 1 (place your own cars in the game)
customizable license plates (with modding support)
customizable game music (with user music)
engine crane (tired of lifting your car up and down to disassemble engine)
creating new engines on the crane (starting from scratch)
leveling system (XP with upgrades)
new car salon (you can buy brand new cars)
liquids in car
story orders (pregenerated like in CMS 2014) next to generated orders (like in CMS 2015)
all new UI and easier controls (with rebind)
pad support
... and much, much more

For me, the base price is fine, but I guess it depends on what the DLC costs. They feature Dodge in the videos and then make it DLC... That's not cool. Also if they sell all the Chrysler brands separately I wouldn't be very happy. I guess we will see.

I'm also curious to see how the gameplay has evolved. Am I still going to be clicking 200 bolts to rebuild a car? I'm not particularly thrilled with that aspect. I want to do it a few times to earn money to hire a guy to do it for me. I still don't see any sign they have gone in that direction.

coopasonic wrote:For me, the base price is fine, but I guess it depends on what the DLC costs. They feature Dodge in the videos and then make it DLC... That's not cool. Also if they sell all the Chrysler brands separately I wouldn't be very happy. I guess we will see.

The developer post notes the Dodge and Mazda DLC as $4.99 apiece. The Dodge content was originally going to be in the base game, which is why it is probably in the videos. They have made it clear that the branded cars are now going to be from the DLC. The developer decided that they would rather sell the game cheaper and let folks pick the DLC they want. I can understand this approach, a $29.99 price point might discourage people from getting the game at all.

coopasonic wrote:I'm also curious to see how the gameplay has evolved. Am I still going to be clicking 200 bolts to rebuild a car? I'm not particularly thrilled with that aspect. I want to do it a few times to earn money to hire a guy to do it for me. I still don't see any sign they have gone in that direction.

Doing all those bolts is pretty much the point of the gameplay, so I don't see that being changed.

"A plan is a list of things that go wrong. I like to keep my lists short. Just be ready." - Rico Rodriguez

It is supposed to release today, with a 10% discount and owners of the previous games were supposed to get 10% discount coupons. I did not get a coupon. I'm probably still going to buy it. I don't know why. Habit?

In regards to their DLC strategy (full disclosure: I will be buying the game if/when it is finally released), having the base game be $10 cheaper while boasting a number of DLCs at $5 a pop is hardly an enticement. That is certainly my fault to a certain degree, as I am a completionist when it comes to games. I can't play a game knowing that there is DLC for it that I don't have. Nevertheless, if they plan on making each car manufacturer that is featured in the game a separate DLC, that's really going to add up, and it will use up a lot of the goodwill they built with the previous version, where I felt that the majority of the DLC was fairly priced and added something substantive to the game.

When I was a boy, I laid in my twin-sized bed and wondered where my brother was. - Mitch Hedberg

coopasonic wrote:It is supposed to release today, with a 10% discount and owners of the previous games were supposed to get 10% discount coupons. I did not get a coupon. I'm probably still going to buy it. I don't know why. Habit?

I just got my coupon. Since they are sending out 900,000 of them, it might take a while. But if you don't get one, email them or figure it's just a couple of bucks

"A plan is a list of things that go wrong. I like to keep my lists short. Just be ready." - Rico Rodriguez

Aren't these all the same company? If you want to work on a Fiat Chrysler Dodge RAM pickup, does that mean you need to purchase all three DLC? Or can you not do so because you also need to get the Fiat DLC?

Yeah, I took the NesTea plunge and installled it. Initially, my mouse wouldn't even work on the main screen. The first patch fixed that, but options to tweak any aspect of the game are limited, and it is extremely sluggish. Waiting for more patches.

ETA- But at least it has trading cards! If you purchase the trading card DLC, that is.

When I was a boy, I laid in my twin-sized bed and wondered where my brother was. - Mitch Hedberg

I did buy it and steam only charged me $16.19 with the 10% coupon. I've only played a little bit (1.9 hours per steam) and so far it is pretty much the same as 2015. I haven't played 2015 in a while so I don't remember the details, but some of it is different, like using different tools to separate shock parts and tires from rims, but early on you find the bad bits and replace them with good bits and sometimes you are given a list of bad bits. I have turned the starting $4k into $10k and gained 3 levels in my 1.9 hours. The 3 levels let me unlock 50% speed on screwing and unscrewing and adding and removing parts and the repair table. Nothing mind-blowing and very reminiscent of the old game.

I opted to pass on this game, even with the 10% off coupon , due to all the negative reviews. I see that today they are posting the sixteenth patch with more things being fixed, yet no real mention of when the game might actually be completely fixed. I'd really like to see an article detailing how the game got released in such a terrible state yet they have been able in a couple of weeks to fix so many things wrong with it.

"A plan is a list of things that go wrong. I like to keep my lists short. Just be ready." - Rico Rodriguez

I've played 12.6 hours and the only issue I have run into is that sometimes I can't work under the hood and have to back out and go back in, like it thinks I am under the car and I need to click again for it to get the perspective. That has yet to be fixed.

I've finally picked this game up during the Steam Sale and after a couple of hours it's not bad. I opted not to get the whole bundle with the DLCs as I wasn't sure I'd like it. I might get some DLCs later on if I get into the game.

It's odd because I picked up two simulator games during the sale, this and PC Build Simulator. I'm having fun with the latter although since it's Early Access I'm not sure I'm going to put too much time in it.

"A plan is a list of things that go wrong. I like to keep my lists short. Just be ready." - Rico Rodriguez

Well, it's been a while! Although I picked up CMS2018 back in July, I only put in three hours or so and then went on to other things. With the Steam Holiday Sale I decided to pick up all the DLC and get back into it. I'm at 24 hours now and am having a good time. Highlights...

It's the holidays, time to decorate the shop!

Besides the default content of the game, the DLCs add some new and interesting cars

Added my own banner to show who's boss:

And from the Steam Workshop I've added several nice quality cars, including this:

And this:

Also from the Workshop are new tracks. Some aren't that great, but I've found a few:

The Nürburgring Nordschleife is pretty nicely done considering the limitations of the game engine. And it has timing so you can see how you are doing and how well you have improved a car. And then there is the Top Gear test track, which wouldn't be complete without the Stig watching you run:

"A plan is a list of things that go wrong. I like to keep my lists short. Just be ready." - Rico Rodriguez

First of all, sorry for all the images, but damn, I don't think I can do this one justice without them. If someone wants me to spoiler tag them I can do that.

I didn't mention one "test track" that's available through the Workshop. It's Los Santos. Yup, that one. It's the version from GTA San Andreas and it looks like it came right out of the early 2000s.

It's is the city plus the environs, with looping roads so you can't try to get out of that part of the map, but still that's a lot of territory. It was challenging my GTX 1060 6GB, pulling the frame rate to the low twenties, but heck, it's Los Santos:

CJ's mom's house. Is it sad that I can't remember the name of my own relatives, but I remember so much of GTASA? I think Big Smoke and Ryder are in there waiting for me.

Binco, where I bought my first outfit after coming into town.

Tagging with my homies:

The airport. Digging that terminal building, which looks might familiar

And finally, because it is Los Santos:

"A plan is a list of things that go wrong. I like to keep my lists short. Just be ready." - Rico Rodriguez